Bodies of 6 persons recovered from Manipur's Jiribam brought to Silchar for autopsy

Guwahati/Silchar: Bodies of six persons, including those of three children, recovered from Manipur's Jiribam district, were brought to Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH) for post-mortem, while the bodies of 10 Kuki youths killed in a gunfight with security forces were airlifted to Churachandpur from Assam's Cachar district, officials said on Saturday.

The bodies of two women and a child, who had been missing since Monday from a camp for the displaced, were recovered from Barak River in Jiribam on Saturday, while three other bodies, including a woman and two children, were found on Friday night.

All the six bodies have been brought to SMCH for postmortem, a police official who did not want to be named said.

The postmortem of a woman and two children, who were found floating in River Jiri, begun today but the SMCH authorities refused to confirm whether it has been completed or when the reports will be available.

The six, all from the Meitei community, went missing from a relief camp on Monday and were abducted allegedly by Kuki-Zo militants from Jiribam's Bokobera area when a group of Kuki youths were engaged in an encounter with CRPF in which 10 of them were killed.

The bodies of the 10 Kuki-Zo youths, which were also brought to SMCH for autopsy, have been airlifted to Churachandpur from Assam's Silchar town where the postmortem was conducted. SMCH authorities are yet to release the postmortem report of the youths.

Earlier in the day, police resorted to lathi-charge outside the SMCH as family members of the youths clashed with forces demanding that the bodies be handed over to them, police said.

Assam Police officials tried convincing them that the bodies will be handed over to Manipur Police and they can take up the matter with them.

The agitated family members refused to accept the proposal and attacked police personnel and resorted to stone pelting which injured several persons. The police lathicharged the protestors and the situation was soon brought under control.

Cachar SP Numal Mahatta told the family members that no untoward incident will be tolerated in Assam and they will have to receive the bodies in Churachandpur.

The family members agreed to the proposal with the authorities deciding that both Manipur and Assam Police will airlift the bodies of the 10 Kuki youths to Churachandpur. Soon after, the bodies were airlifted and reached Churachandpur in the afternoon.

Autopsies of bodies found in Imphal's Jiribam are done in SMCH due to lack of infrastructural facilities in the town.

Following escalating violence in recent weeks in Jiribam, bordering Cachar district, an alert has been sounded in the district with round-the-clock patrolling initiated in the remote border areas.

Ethnic violence-hit Manipur has witnessed renewed violence in different districts, including Jiribam, during the last two weeks.